Junior opposite hitter Shane Wetzel leaps in the air to spike the volleyball during the No. 13 Ohio State Buckeyes four set loss to the No. 3 UCLA Bruins Saturday at the Covelli Center. Credit: Faith Schneider | Lantern Reporter
The Buckeyes went into the Big Ten challenge looking to build momentum.
Ohio State ended the weekend defeated.
After dropping its first matchup Friday night against No. 6 USC, No. 13 Ohio State (3-5) lost to No. 3 UCLA (6-1) in four sets Saturday night at the Covelli Center and came out of the tournament without any momentum.
“This chain of schedule was tough and we did it for a reason. It’s a bunch of good teams, as it gets us ready for conference (play). So we’re all looking forward to conference (play) coming next week, and bringing it to Loyola,” outside hitter Kyle Teune said. “So we’re just happy that we got all these opportunities to play great teams, and we’ll look back at it, watch the film and everything, and you know, come next Saturday.”
The first set against the Bruins was a rollercoaster for the Buckeyes.
Ohio State opened the set with a 4-2 lead with kills from outside hitters Stanislaw Chacinski and Teune.
Three straight UCLA errors allowed the Buckeyes to build a 13-10 lead.
Building momentum, middle blocker Cole Young tallied a kill to help the Buckeyes score three straight, which forced UCLA to call a timeout.
The Buckeyes extended its lead to 19-13 with a kill from opposite hitter Shane Wetzel to give Ohio State its largest lead of the set.
Despite a late push from the Bruins, the Buckeyes closed out the first set thanks to a Chacinski kill, but the team still struggled with eight serving errors, five attack errors and a blocking error.
Setter Will McElveen said knew the service errors were uncharacteristic.
“It was just between sets that we talked amongst ourselves, saying, ‘Hey, we got this. Believe in ourselves, believe in our abilities. We’ve done this a million times before’,” McElveen said. “So you know, just believe in ourselves, believe in each other, and trust our teammates and put it all out on the court.”
The second set was in UCLA’s control.
UCLA went on a 4-0 run to take an 11-7 lead. Ohio State got back within two points as the Bruins caused back-to-back errors and Wetzel earned a kill off a UCLA blocking error to cut the Buckeyes’ deficit to two.
After two straight points by the Bruins, Wetzel helped the Buckeyes go on a three-point run to get within one. But it wasn’t enough as UCLA finished out the set 25-19.
In the third, a mix of four UCLA errors and kills from Wetzel and Young helped the Buckeyes take an early 6-2 lead.
Ohio State went on a 4-0 run led by kills from Chacinski, Teune and middle blocker Thomas Leahey to maintain its lead 13-6.
UCLA responded with a 3-0 run to get within three, which caused a Buckeye timeout. The Bruins then went on a 3-1 run, knocking on the door of the Buckeyes’ lead at 15-14.
After a kill from Wetzel, Ohio State increased its lead to 21-17. But seven of the next eight points were from UCLA as it came from behind and won the Bruins the third set 25-22.
“They honestly just attacked. They attacked with the serve. Made some pretty good serves, honestly. I mean, kudos to them,” Teune said. “And they just chose the right place to serve, I guess, and got lucky, so we’ll get them next time with that.”
Ohio State setter Daniel Henwood Rodriguez got a kill to help the Buckeyes take a 7-3 lead in the fourth set.
UCLA and Ohio State continued to exchange points, but after falling behind 20-18, kills from Wetzel and Young equalized the set.
Costly errors from the Bruins down the stretch kept the Buckeyes in reach. However, after Young tied the set at 24, UCLA rallied for two straight points to clinch the set and match.
“It was obviously back and forth. There are times when they’re going to punch back. I think in the third set, we got a pretty good lead, and they started punching back with their serve game,” Wetzel said. “And I think those moments are where we got to respond. That was a little drawback from what we normally can do. But I think in the fourth, we kind of showed that mentality and tried to punch back.”
Next up for the Buckeyes, Ohio State hosts Loyola Chicago at the Covelli Center on Saturday at 7 p.m.
